Saturday, July 21, 2012

Woke up in Washington. Got a bit lost, missed the turn,
ended up in Crystal City near the airport. But a long course correction saw us
smack bang in the middle of a traffic jam that didn't really end until we got
to Philadelphia.

Drove on tollways through green countryside. Would have been
nice to check it out but there was no time. Went to Chipotle for lunch, it really is great
food. Then we ended up in Walmart again and Luke bought a new bag. We figured
we'd just pay extra baggage rather than try and stuff everything into our
existing bags.

Wandered around Costco as well, went in the out door. This
meant we were greeted cheerfully as we left by a large black guy asking us how
we were doing. It wasn't quite “Hi welcome to Costco, I love you” but it was
close. Inside there was a woman demonstrating a vacuum cleaner by running it
endlessly over a small rug. I think the welcome guy has it good.

Finally got into Philadelphia at about 5pm. The city seemed
quite pleasant after the freeways. We had to pay $25 for parking which was
disappointing. Doubletree by Hilton was all very swish. At reception I asked:
“This has breakfast included, right?” The woman then went off and came back
with a voucher for free breakfast. Win.

Lots of people were in the hotel for the concert. Also lots
were dressed up for weddings and classical music concerts across the road.
After a small nap we found the metro and headed off to the Wells Fargo Stadium.
The guard who sold us the tokens was exasper-wrousy but he knew where we were
going. Only Aerosmith fans on the train. We ended up chatting with a couple who
had been to see them in the early 80s. Not so many young fans. Oh, I feel old.

At the metro station we paid $15 for a bootleg t-shirt, just
because it was funny. The name was spelled right but I'm sure the quality won't
be great.

Got there at about 7.45 so by the time we got food and
drinks Cheap Trick had well and truly started. We paid $10 for a philly
cheesesteak and it was really awful. Had to add a lot of pickles to make it worth
eating. This is meant to be the prize dish of Philadelphia? I think they need a new one.

Cheap Trick played a lot of songs I didn't know but they did
do The Flame, I Want You To Want Me and the Dream Police. Didn't do If You Want
My Love or That 70s Song. Guitarist came out with a 4 necked guitar which was
pretty amusing.

Thanks to wine I got to queue for the ladies about 4 times and made some friends in the process. People in Philly are very talkative. Once back in the stadium I ended
up chatting to the guy next to me. He was a returned soldier, had been in
Afghanistan in 2010. We talked politics a bit, I said that I think the US needs
to take care of their soldiers better. He said “Yeah, but you have to help
yourself as well.” He said he was currently on a disability pension and that he
was being well looked after. This contrasts with the various negative things we've seen about veterans all over the US.

And then it was time and Aerosmith came on. Had this moment
of “Oh my god, it's really them!” when Steven Tyler and Joe Perry came out.
Both were looking fairly agile although Tyler is 64 and hobbles a bit.

They played their newer 80s-90s songs first but then did brand new
stuff and also older 70s hits so I didn't know all of their songs. Also a
couple of covers. Still great. Danced to Rag Doll but spent most of the concert
sitting down. Luke had a sore knee.

After two hours it was all over, only one encore. I wanted
more but that was it. We hung back hoping to find leftover merchandise then
wandered over to the train. Easy peasy, hardly anyone on it. Got back to the
hotel and I was completely wired, partly due to the concert but also because
I'd stupidly had a coffee at 6pm before we went. So had a hot chocolate which
had aspartame in it. Even more wired. Finally turned out the lights at 1.30am
but was up again at 3am thanks to the hideously uncomfortable bed. Had the
worst. Night. Ever. Woke up with severe neck and back pain. Mentioned the crap
bed to the reception, they didn't care, told me the beds were new but “I'll
mention it to housekeeping.” So free breakfast but no sleep. Not so good.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Washington: Hilton Garden Inn. Good night's sleep for me but Luke was still exhausted. Attempted to make coffee for breakfast but all the water fell straight throught the machine. We told reception, the guy who was 7 foot tall gave us a free breakfast each. NICE.

After much indecision as to whether we should stay another night we set off into the blistering heat (38 degrees) and took the Metro to the National Air and Space museum. Lots of food trucks lined up nearby but not many customers, too hot.

The museum is free and fabulous. You walk into the foyer and there it is, the Apollo 11 command module (capsule), the real thing that splashed back to earth after they landed on the moon. The museum is chockers with amazing space relics like the lunar module, space suits, satellites, a replica of the Hubble Telescope, Sputnick, nuclear missiles plus the Spirit of St Louis and the original Wright Brothers aircraft.

An army band gave a free concert at midday so we had the pleasure at looking at the Hubble and its images to glorious string classical music. Looked at the docked Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft while they played on.

Also saw a moon buggy and all the various bits and pieces that went on the Apollo missions including Old Spice!

I just adored the whole thing. I felt like that little kid who saw pictures of Mars in 1977 and became entranced with space. And I kept thinking of this, which used to play on the ABC as a filler before the Goodies:

We were both pretty exhausted when we left and headed off to the Natural History museum. There was lightning and thunder in the distance. Went through a sculpture garden before it started to rain. Got into the museum just as the storm broke. Looked at dinosaurs, stuffed things, the Hope Diamond, lots of gems and an exhibited on the Titanoboa, largest snake ever.

After that we dragged ourselves up a few blocks until we found a nice French restaurant, had a kir, foie gras, French Onion soup, Luke had some really nice lamb brains with lemon caper butter. Mmm.

Got back to the hotel, Luke went straight to sleep. I've been on the PC, uploading pics and trying to get us a room for Friday.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

We planned to do the Statue of Liberty today but it said the weather would be cloudy so instead we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, another ticket in the Citypass booklet.

It was still a warm day and it was a pleasant enough walk to the museum through Central Park. Chased a couple of squirrels and didn't get too lost, except when we walked along an extra block.

Once inside I headed to an exhibition on nudes in photography which was rather fascinating. A lot of the original nude photos were "figure studies" for painters - it was cheaper to have a photo of a model in a single pose than to have her coming into the studio all the time. Still, the small collection showcased censorship in all its myriad forms.

Spent a fair bit of time in the 19th century galleries, enjoying the impressionists, especially the pastels of Degas and of course Monet's bridge and lilies (no frogs). Pissaro's images of France looked just like our cycling trip. We also clocked up another couple of Van Gogh's including a gorgeous sunflower painting and the Field one. Took a photo of the self portrait with rabbit ears.

We had hot dogs for lunch from the stands out the front, operated as a kind of charity for wounded American soldiers. We can't believe the US treats its veterans so badly, especially when they spend so much on wars and people drive around with "support our troops" magnet ribbons on their cars. What crap. Hot dog was nice, though. Luke made the mistake of ordering extra "chili" and was given mince meat with hot chili flavour on top of the frankfurter. Ew.

After a coffee we perused the American paintings (Washington Crossing The Delaware is heading in the wrong direction) and then looked at the guns, swords and armory. Very Highlander. Luke said it's the only museum we've been to with guns on display.

Also checked out the ancient instruments and then did a quick runner through the European masters gallery, clocked up a few more Rembrandts and Vermeers. We had 15 minutes to find the Salvador Dali's and didn't really get to enjoy the Surrealism stuff before the rude security guards herded us out. We nearly walked out with the audio guide, perhaps we should have kept it.

5.30pm saw us walking back through central park, tipping a saxophone playing busker and being horrified at the GIANT turtle in the boat lake (along with a whole herd of smaller turtles). Then it was up the hill to Strawberry fields, where the John Lennon "Imagine" memorial mosaic is. Lots of people having photos taken but also a very pleasant, quiet and relaxed vibe. Luke admired a silly dog for a while and I had a Strawberry Shortcake ice cream, like a weird Gaytime.

On a whim walking off we bought a few bottles of cider, went back to the benches and had a drink with John Lennon. Very nice. there was an old couple there just enjoying the vibe - except the lady absolutely barked at someone who was riding their bike through the area: "you get off that bike right now!!" We also saw someone walk over the top of the flower-strewn memorial - everyone was suitably horrified but no lynchings took place.

After our drinks we walked north to the Indian restaurant on Amsterdam st for dinner. Not too bad although the waiter poured the water like he was Riff Raff. Worse were the two American women right near us talking at the top of their voices about the most inane stuff, interspersed with a lot of "like I said, like, you know, like..." In the end they were the only ones talking in the whole restaurant, the rest of us suffered in silence. Finally they went away. Phew.

Tonight was Manhattanhenge, when the sun lines up with the east-west grid streets. We didn't get the full experience because there were a few too many trees but we got the idea.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Had a very slow first morning in New York. After being awake at 3am trying to deal with the noisy window air conditioner we slept in, partly due to jet lag. NY is 3 hours ahead of LA.

Our breakfast was sugary granola bars and coffee, supplied gratis by the hotel which is nice. After a bit of trip planning and facebooking, we finally got organised to leave by about 12.

To make life easy, we opted to go to the Natural History Museum, which is about 4 blocks walk away. After our first NY hotdog (you can live on it... but it tastes like shit) we stood in line for half an hour before discovering we were in the wrong line. The full experience. Second line was at least shorter. We have bought a NY City Pass for $89 each, gives us entry into 6 different things. It means our days are planned, at least.

The museum is in a rather old building and oddly set out. This means we missed quite a few of the exhibits, having got lost a few times. We started by perusing the stuffed American mammal gallery. This is the closest we've come to seeing bears, mountain lions and beavers and raccoons... and skunks. I discovered that the USA isn't rife with prowling big cats as I'd previously thought. Cougars, pumas, panthers and mountain lions are all the same animal. There ARE jaguars, although they're more in Mexico.

Took some amusing photos patting the larger stuffed animals.

Part of our city pass included a showing of the "Journey to the Stars" movie. We were a bit skeptical about what this was and expected it to be pretty dumbed down but it was a pleasant surprised. You sit facing up to a 180 degree white dome and they project a fab 3D movie about the history of the universe onto it. A bit like Monty Python's "Galaxy Song" but without the live liver transplants. Whoopi Goldberg narrated it which naturally caused us to quote Ghost ("Damn woman! What'd you do to your hair?"). The 3D thing was a bit sickening at times and resembled what it feels like when I'm having a vertigo attack.

After the movie we had a delayed lunch in the cafeteria and then hurried up to our original destination - the dinosaur bones on the top floor. The NY Museum is the number one place to see dinosaur fossils and it didn't disappoint. There were so many it was rather crowded. Got to see all the favourites - the stegosaur, triceratops, brontosaurus and of couse the Tyrannosaurus. It's the only actual fossil skeleton of a T-rex on display in the world. 20 years ago they rebuilt the skeleton so that it was no longer standing upright in that old-fashioned classic t-rex pose. They now think it stood in a more horizontal fashion with it's tail off the ground. The whole thing is marvellously impressive, as is the giant Brontosaurus - which has another official name that I can't remember. They also rebuilt it to make sure the tail was off the ground.

There were lots of other lovely beasts - Chasosaurus (Kazosaurus) has a lot of horns which I rather liked. And the raptor was posed in a rather hilarious fashion.

The museum closed at 5.45 before we'd seen everything. We then went for a wander through the streets of the Upper West Side, went down to see the Dakota Building where John Lennon was shot. There's no memorial or marker there, just security guards making sure you don't stand in the driveway. Walked back up Broadway and strolled along Amsterdam looking at restaurants. Opted for Thai before coming back to the hotel. We're both feeling a bit spacey and pre-flu. We may have picked up something on the plane yesterday. I guess tomorrow we'll see if it's just a passing illness or something more serious.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Terrible night at the Radisson. We were sweaty and sticky and the air conditioner kept turning itself on and off regularly. The "sleep number" beds weren't that comfy either. You can pump them up to be hard to let them down to be soft but mine went about halfway and thus I slept on an angle. Managed about 5 hours sleep all up.

Dragged ourselves up at 5.30am and made it into the transfer bus, jam packed in with a bunch of others. Thankfully it got us there by 6.20 or so. Then we entered Delta Hell. Problem one: can't check in with the computer kiosk because it insists we buy extra luggage and then rejects our credit card. We solve this by heading to talk to a real person. She helpfully fixes the problem (I'd already paid the $25 per bag fee) and then tells us to check our bags. Without thinking, I send mine off first, forgetting it's unlocked. Then, as it's tootling off down the conveyor belt, Luke weighs his.

Nope, she says. That's 14 pounds overweight. It's 50 pounds per bag.

But hang on, we say. My bag was 14 pounds lighter.

Nope, she says. It's on a per-bag basis, you can't net weigh them.

Cue the swearing.

Well, bring back Karen's bag, Luke says.

Nope, she shrugs. It's gone. That'll be $90 for the overweight bag.

Thankfully she lets us repack the bag. We've accumulated a lot of extra weight while in the RV including bottles of wine, kitchen utensils, bike locks and food. We throw away a tin of Milo and shampoo and conditioner. We stuff dirty clothes and other items into our carryons. We get frustrated and sweaty but eventually it's all out of Luke's bag and it tips the scales at 50 pounds.

Problem solved. We hope.

Off we go to Gate 68B, way down the end of a long hallway and line up for our little bit of US security theatre. Shoes off, belts off, jackets off, everything in the trays, then it's backscatter x-ray time. Both of us opt out, preferring the pleasant idea of a feeling-up to the uncertainty of backscatter radiation. Except the female feel-up-person doesn't arrive. I wait and I wait and my stuff is piling up unattended at the end of the conveyor built. In the meantime Luke has a pleasant enough interaction with a feel-up person with no hard feelings. He didn't even tell them to not touch his junk.

Eventually I gave up and just put myself through the scanner. Here's hoping they don't find out a single dose causes major damage.

We squashed onto the plane along with a tour load of Japanese kids who were rather badly behaved. Took off and headed east. I'd planned to sleep but the view out the window kept me awake - acres of desert, Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, the Rocky Mountains... glorious stuff. I couldn't help but feel amazed that people would keep their blinds down as we flew over it. But then it got cloudy so I took a nap.

We changed planes at Cincinatti after a sideways landing. Hi. I'm in cincinatti. Piled immediately onto a much nicer plane with less people and wider seats. This time we flew over farmland and constantly populated countryside.

The landing into La Guardia was fairly hairy, full of sharp drops, steep turns and sudden touchdown on a runway that was only just there. Had a few heebie jeebie moments, imagining what it was like for those people on the 9/11 planes.

Once landed we collected our bags and arranged a shuttle bus. Shared it was a family from Iowa who were in to see the big city. Luke made them laugh by promising not to molest the large truck driver who was forced to sit next to him. They were an amusing cliche, the teenage daughter hating every moment, the little girl laughing at horses and not shutting up. Good fun.

We dropped them at Times Square and headed to the Upper West Side where Hotel Belleclaire is. The hotel is undergoing renovation, hence the cheap rooms. It's an old building but the rooms are swish, nice beds, hardwood floors, renovated bathrooms, though a bit small. Only problem is the in-window air-conditioner. Loud enough to wake the dead. Here's hoping the heatwaves stay away.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Took our time at the Mineral RV Park, especially because we
decided to do the washing and two of the dryers were broken. Luke passed the
time by getting involved in his first romance novel. He liked it so much he
decided to “borrow” it.

The Mineral RV Park was a winner, nice quiet place with
shady trees and a cute little single toilet and shower in the bathroom – with
shower door. We were still in the mountains and it obviously snows a lot as the
laudromat has a sign warning of avalanches coming off the roof.

We left at 12.30 and headed towards the main freeway that
runs down California. Once out of the mountains we were back to brown dry grass
and warm weather. At Red Bluff we went looking for lunch and a coffee.
Starbucks provided the latter and we thought we'd try a Mexican fast food place
called Burrito Bandito for the food. I had a “kid's size” bean burrito which
was just as huge as an adult size one. Only difference, not much flavour. It
only had beans and cheese. Luke discovered the joy of quesadillas.

I think I've decided that Mexican food here is often just
kebabs wrapped differently.

We got on Interstate 5 and headed for Monterey. Except that
as we approached San Francisco again we made a flash decision to head into
Marin County and attempt the ride over the Golden Gate Bridge again. It was
6pm.

Girl in background outdoes my 'laugh with a turn' pose

It was nice and sunny... until within about 1km of the
bridge. Then: massive fog, a gale and freezing cold temperatures. We managed to
find a park on the right hand side of the Northern section, rugged up in our
thermals and raincoats and set off. It wasn't what you would call a pleasant
bike ride but it was still brilliant. The views from the bridge are impressive,
even with fog. The bridge was sounding it's foghorn which made the whole
structure vibrate. We were on the bike-only footpath which meant we were
sharing the space with a lot of lycra warriors, some of whom I annoyed by
pulling out in front of them without looking. Ah well. The bridge has
intermittent emergency telephones that will connect you to suicide prevention counselors It also has lots of spots of red paint on the concrete. You could
feel it swaying in the wind. The cables are HUGE and the traffic is really
close to the edge.

On the other side we took some obligatory photos and then
headed off for a ride along the foreshore to Chrissy Field. I need to look up
the history on this. It seemed to be privately owned until the couple gave it
up to the public for enjoyment. We didn't bother to put our hands in the
water... I knew it would be cold. Pleasant enough ride, although we had a
headwind going back and a lot of it was uphill. The mountain bike gears helped
a lot. The beachside path was busy despite the weather and late hour. Lots of
people jogging and one guy flying a paua kite.

The ride back over the bridge didn't seem as windy and the
foghorns weren't going. We watched a huge cargo ship go under the bridge,
accompanied by a tug called the Millenium Falcon. Delusions of grandeur.

Back in the RV (and warming up) we decided to just head over
the bridge, pay the $6 toll and brave it through the middle of SF to go south.
Turned out to be easier and quicker than expected. I guess Sunday night traffic
isn't too bad. We managed to find a park in a suburb south of Strawberry Fields
and had Indian/Pakistani for dinner. Nice food but no alcohol served. I guess
they were Muslims. It may explain why there were no other diners there, just
lots of takeaway orders. Although maybe that was because it was late.

Dinner done we hurtled off down the freeway to see how far
we could get. Tired, we decided to go to the Walmart at Palo Alto which was
actually a lot further east than expected. But we had a good night's sleep and
were left alone.